Evaluation of the impact of Korea’s employment protection legislation on vocational training discrimination against non-regular workers

This longitudinal study evaluated the effectiveness of Korea’s 2007 employment protection legislation (EPL), aimed at mitigating labor discrimination against non-regular workers (NRW). Specifically, we use the Korean Workplace Panel Survey data from 2005 to 2013 and adopt a difference-in-difference methodology (DD) to explore whether establishment reduces the gap in training opportunities between NRW and regular workers (RW). Results show that compliance with government regulations depends on how business establishments react to the rules and the characteristics of these stakeholders. Overall, the 2007 reform partially improved the training opportunities in NRW. However, this positive outcome was mostly concentrated in companies with affluent resources or stronger bargaining power of NRW. Policymakers should consider in what context the policy works well and what factors may hinder its operation at the policy design stage.